How Hidden Technology Transformed Bowling

Bowling has been reinvented many times over the past seven thousand years but especially in the last 30. This is the fascinating physics of balls, oil, lane and pins. A portion of this video was sponsored by Salesforce. Go to https://salesforce.com/veritasium to learn more. Huge thanks to Steve Kloempken and all of Storm Bowling for letting us visit and get a glimpse into the crazy world of bowling. Huge thanks to legends Chris Barnes and Pete Weber for taking the time to bowl with us. Huge thanks to Creative Electron for their help with getting the bowling balls X-rayed. Check out their work here: https://creativeelectron.com/ Thanks to Ron Hatfield and James Freeman for their help with research. Check out their great book, Bowling Beyond the Basics: https://ve42.co/HatfieldFreeman Thanks to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) for their help with accessing archival data and footage. Special thanks to Rod Cross for physics consultation. Thanks to Bill Guszczo for giving us the idea to make this video in the first place. ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ References: Freeman, James, and Ron Hatfield. Bowling beyond the Basics: What's Really Happening on the Lanes, and What You Can Do about It. BowlSmart, 2018. -- https://ve42.co/HatfieldFreeman N. Stremmel, P. Ridenour and S. Sterbenz. “Identifying the Critical Factors That Contribute to Bowling Ball Motion on a Bowling Lane.” United States Bowling Congress, 2008. -- https://ve42.co/BallMotionASQ USBC Equipment Specifications and Certification Team. “Ball Motion Study: Phase I and II Final Report.” United States Bowling Congress, 2008. -- https://ve42.co/USBCBallMotion Brettingen, Patrick, and Nicki Mours. “USBC static weight limits remain relevant.” United States Bowling Congress, 2011. -- https://ve42.co/USBCStaticWeight Article on lane oil origins -- https://ve42.co/OilOrigins Luna, Richard. “Bruce Pluckhahn says there's a little bit of bowling…” United Press I